Strategies for Effective Reading
Introduction
Regular reading is essential for anyone. It will help you develop your knowledge, skills or attitudes. It is often done for different purposes by different groups of people. Some read to advance their knowledge; some others do it to improve their language skills; another sector of people does it just for pleasure. Whatever the purpose, the habit helps everyone to improve their personality in many ways.
Students and academics often pay little attention to assess how badly they read. They do not assess, in the normal case, how well they can improve your reading speed. The speed of reading can lead to an improvement in the effectiveness of learning. Learning to read well is an essential skill that every scholar must systematically develop.
The habit of reading helps everyone to build their personality in many ways. Choosing the right text or material to read comes first. Reading for academic purposes is strenuous. Students must concentrate on understanding the contents of the material in depth. But reading for pleasure tends to be light. The latter requires less concentration and can be done at an average speed of 100-200 words per minute. Prior knowledge of the subject is a key element for effective reading comprehension.
There is a practice for some people to read word for word. It is better to focus on reading sentences rather than just words while reading. Reading material as sentences allows the brain to process the reading input as ‘ideas or sentences’.
Reading strategies
There are different types of techniques for reading. To improve the rate, you should practice skimming, exploration Prayed preview as a reading strategy. The method should be chosen as required by the reading material and the purpose.
The first is skimming. It’s a quick read to collect the main points. In this process, the reader skims to get a general idea. The reader understands the entire text without reading it first to last Prayed word to word. The technique can allow you to read up to 1,000 words per minute. In this process, the key ideas of a text are collected by reading the first and last paragraph, topic sentences, and other parts such as titles, summaries, chapter summary, photo captions, etc.
In skimming, the practice is to identify whether to read or not, what to read carefully and what place is the right place to start. Skimming through a text before reading it will help you better understand the material.
In exploration, the practice is to read quickly to find specific information. It is a technique that anyone can use to find specific information, facts, or ideas without reading the entire text. Scanning can help you scan up to 1,500 words per minute. The purpose of scanning a text is to assess the relevance of the material. Scanning must be done before skimming. It will help you determine if a material contains the information that the reader wants. Once a resource is scanned, it can be skimmed for more details.
surface reading it is another process of reading. It is used to find the ‘information words’ of the text you read. Half the words in a material are “information” words. Only they give meaning to the material. The other words on it work like glue and paint. They provide connections, but are not essential to deciphering the meaning. Focusing on the information words can help you read faster. The understanding will also be better. Paying more attention to what the author is trying to say is the essence of this type of reading.
extensive reading it is reading a longer text, often for pleasure, with an emphasis on the overall meaning. Goal intensive reading you are reading a short text for detailed information. reading prayers it is yet another process.
Speed Reading Process
The reading process results in a series of eye jerks, known as “fixations.” During fixations, the eyes capture words for understanding. Slow readers take in only one or two words at each fixation. Increase the words in each fixation through continued practice. You will be able to gather more number of words in each fixation. Therefore, you need to practice reading the sentences without eye jerks, but with a smooth movement of the eyes from one to the other. One can practice this strategy with conscious effort.
Marking important points in the text is good for learning. Underlining or highlighting keywords and making notes in the margins etc. can improve reading speed. Marking text, such as underlining sentences, can help you focus, identify key points, and make the book easier to scan if you prefer.
Other points to remember
Taking notes always supports reading comprehension. Jotting down essential points is what you do when taking notes. Taking notes while reading or listening can help you gain a deeper understanding and reflection on the text you read. It can help you easily remember or recall what you have read. Summarizing what the reader has learned is another way to improve their overall understanding of the text.
Mastery of the language will help you read better. Reading, on the other hand, will help your mastery of language skills. Mastering the basic 3,000 or more words, which make up about 80 percent of the English texts you normally use, can help you easily read, understand, and learn any material on any subject in English. Extensive reading, comprehension skills, reading fluency, and vocabulary building are integral ingredients of advancing knowledge.
Active readers, with clear goals for reading, can become good learners. They periodically evaluate whether the text and their reading practice meet their objectives. Good readers scan the text before reading. They come to know what the structure of the text is and which sections of the text are relevant to them. Good readers can make predictions about what is to come. They choose what to read carefully, what to read quickly, what to reread, what not to read, etc. Good readers read different texts differently. They assess the quality and value of text and respond to text intelligently.